Shelving for receiving stackable units

ABSTRACT

A product storage display bin and integral product package comprising a vertically oriented back wall for supporting the product packaging from the rear. The product storage display bin includes a plurality of substantially parallel dividers projecting outward from and orthogonally with respect to the back wall thereby defining a plurality of laterally segregated vertically oriented product display bin channels. The display bin channels can each be open at a top end for receiving through a top feed port and each laterally segregated channel can be closed on a bottom end by a floor board, which laterally extends across the bottom ends of each of the product display bin channels. Each product display bin channel can have a frontal vertically elongated opening for displaying products and each frontal opening can have a frontal opening stop member that extends across the opening to prevent the product from falling forward.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates generally to display shelving and, more particularly, to packaging and integral display shelving.

2. Background Art

There are various product display bins or shelving that allow product packaging to be displayed. Often there are product packages that are designed to be stackably arranged such that each package can be stacked one on top of the other in a stable fashion. There are product packages that are designed such that the underside of a package is configured to conform in a complimentary fashion with the top side of a package stacked beneath. For example, the bottom side of a package can have a recessed area that conforms to the geometry of the top side of the package design, such that the packaging can be readily stacked on shelving for displaying the product contained therein. The stackable packaging can also have transparent portions such that the product contained within the packaging can be viewed by a customer. There are also various display bin or display shelving designs for supporting various types of packages. For example, there are display bin designs that incorporate segregated product display channels in which product is contained. For example, there are product display bins that incorporate product display channels in which product is contained and the product is fed by gravity to the lower most end of the channel where the product can be retrieved by the customer. This type of shelving is seen in the beverage industry. These product display channels typically have a downward slope toward the lower end or are oriented vertically, such that gravity will pull the product packaging toward the lower most end of the channels.

It is often important that a product to be able to stand upright on a display shelf to provide a shelf presence for the product while allowing the consumer to view the product for making a selection. Therefore, in order to improve the shelf presence of a product, it is often desirable to maximize the ability to view the product confronting a potential purchaser. However, stackable products often times don't allow the would be purchaser to readily view the product because of the stacking or channeled arrangement. Further, if the product is stacked in segregated product display channels, it can further obstruct the view of the would be purchaser, thereby reducing the shelf presence of the product. The combination of most typical stackable package designs, as well as most typical segregated product display channel designs, particularly those that are vertically oriented, detract from the shelf presence of the product, because the product sloped or are not readily viewable by a would be purchaser.

Therefore, there is a need for a package design and an integral product display design that provides a good shelf presence for the product. Stackable product designs are very practical in a retail environment in order to efficiently utilize shelf space, however, most stackable designs, though efficient, sacrifice good shelf presence. Further, most stackable package design are more difficult to manufacture and more costly than standard packages due to the special complimentary geometry required for the packages to be stackable. Therefore, there is a need to have a package that is stackable, though simple in design that can be easily integrated with a product display shelf while maintaining good shelf presence for the product.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The invention is a product storage display bin and integral product package comprising a vertically oriented back wall for supporting the product packaging from the rear. The product storage display bin includes a plurality of substantially parallel dividers projecting outward from and orthogonally with respect to the back wall thereby defining a plurality of laterally segregated vertically oriented product display bin channels. The display bin channels can each be open at a top end for receiving through a top feed port and each laterally segregated channel can be closed on a bottom end by a floor board, which laterally extends across the bottom ends of each of the product display bin channels in order to support the products from underneath.

For visual display purposes, each product display bin channel can have a frontal vertically elongated opening for displaying products and each frontal opening can have a frontal opening stop member that extends across the opening to prevent the product from falling forward. A product display package for integrating with the display bin channels can have a transparent top dome portion defining an interior volume and having a bottom opening. About the mouth of the bottom opening there can be a partial perimeter slot open on one end for receiving a bottom plate to cover the opening.

The bottom plate portion can be adapted to slidably engage the slot about the bottom mouth of the top dome portion through the open end of the slot such that it covers the bottom opening. The bottom plate can define the dimension of a bottom footprint of the product package and the dimensions of the bottom footprint can be substantially the same as dimensions of the top feed port. This design adapts the package for slidable top down installation of the product into the product display bin channels in a stackable fashion.

The product display bin channels, as discussed herein, can have a rectangular annular cross section and the dimension of the cross section can correspond to that of the bottom plate of the product package. The frontal opening stop member can be a vertically elongated frontal lip orthogonally projecting from a frontal edged of each divider laterally across an adjacent frontal opening adapted for preventing the product display package from falling forward.

The laterally segregated product display bin channels will allow like kind products to be inserted into a given display bin channel in a stackable fashion while allowing the product to be viewed through the frontal opening. A different but similar set of like kind products can be inserted in a same manner in adjacent channels creating the overall display of similar products. The purchaser can view the products while they are in the bin and can remove them from the feed portal for a closer view and to purchase the product.

These and other advantageous features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of the product display bin;

FIG. 1A is a latitudinal sectional view of a product package;

FIG. 1B is a longitudinal sectional view of a product package;

FIG. 1C is a bottom plan view of a product package; and

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the product display bin.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

According to the embodiment(s) of the present invention, various views are illustrated in FIG. 1-2 and like reference numerals are being used consistently throughout to refer to like and corresponding parts of the invention for all of the various views and figures of the drawing. Also, please note that the first digit(s) of the reference number for a given item or part of the invention should correspond to the Fig. number in which the item or part is first identified.

One embodiment of the present invention comprising laterally aligned vertical product display bin channel with integral packaging teaches a novel apparatus for vertically storing and displaying stackable like products laterally adjacent with respect to different stackable like products of a similar category or type of product.

The details of the invention and various embodiments can be better understood by referring to the figures of the drawing. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 1A-1C, a view of a product display bin with the product packaging inserted is shown in one of the channels. This view shows an upright product display bin 100 having a plurality of laterally adjacent and segregated product display channels 102. The product display bin channels 102 are vertically oriented and have an upper end 104 and a bottom end 106. The upper end 104 of each product display bin channel has an open feed port 108 for inserting a product package. The bottom end 106 of each product display bin channel is closed by a laterally extending floor board 110 which laterally extends across the bottom ends of each of the product display bin channels. The floor board 110 can support the products.

The product packages can be stacked in the product display bin channels from the bottom end and upward to the upper end. Each product display bin channel 102 can have a frontal opening 112 for viewing the product package. The frontal opening 112 can be vertically elongated and extending from the upper end to the bottom end of the product display bin channel. The frontal opening can have frontal stop members 114 which laterally extends from a display bin divider 116 laterally across the frontal opening, thereby preventing products contained within the channel from falling forward. The product display bin 100 can have a back wall 118 for supporting product from the rear.

Attached to the front side of the wall can be display bin dividers 116 which segregate the product display bin channels 102 thereby defining the dimensions of the display bin channel. The dividers that segregate the channels can be spaced and equidistant with respect to one another. The display bin dividers can also be substantially parallel with respect to each other. The substantially parallel display bin dividers can project outward from the back wall and orthogonally arranged with respect to the back wall, thereby defining vertically oriented product display bin channels. The frontal opening stop members 114 can be a vertically elongated frontal lip orthogonally projecting from a frontal edge 120 of the display bin divider 116 laterally across an adjacent frontal opening, thereby adapted for preventing the product display package from falling forward. The frontal opening stop member can extend the full length of the frontal opening.

The product package 200 is shown being insertable through the feed port 108 where the product can be inserted into the product display bin channel. The product packages can be top loaded and the upper most package can be removed by a would be consumer.

Referring to FIG. 2, a top plan view of the product display bin 100 is shown. This embodiment reveals a rectangular cross section of the channel, however, the cross section can form a different geometry. The cross section can be uniform from the upper end to the bottom end of the product display bin channel. This top plan view also reveals the stop members 114 which laterally extend across the frontal opening.

The frontal opening 112 is shown vertically extending from the upper end to the bottom end of the display bin channel. Also, the stop members 114 are shown vertically extending along a frontal edge 120 of each divider. The stop members 114 can laterally extend in both directions from the frontal edge of the divider, thereby laterally extending in both directions across each of the adjacent segregated channels.

The product package 200 can have an upper dome portion 250 and a lower bottom plate portion 252. The upper dome portion 500 can have a bottom opening 254 for receiving the product therein. Around the perimeter of the bottom opening 254, there can be a perimeter slot 256 having one open end 258 for slidably receiving the bottom plate portion 252. The slidable plate can simply be a flattened cardboard structure that slidably engages the open end of the slot, thereby closing off the bottom opening of the upper dome portion creating an internal volume for containing a product. This slidable plate portion and the perimeter slot defines the outer most circumference or footprint of the package, which can be substantially the same dimensionally as the rectangular cross section of the display bin channels. The product package can be inserted into the product display bin channels with the bottom plate portion facing downward. The product packages can be stacked one on top of the other. The perimeter slot and the slidable plate portion are sufficiently wide to engage the stop member to prevent the product package from falling forward. However, the upper dome portion of the package can be transparent and can be small enough to be viewed through the frontal opening. The product dome portion can have a width that is substantially the same as the width of the frontal opening 112. This configuration allows the product to be readily viewed by the consumer.

As an alternative embodiment, rather than having shelving designed such that the product is retrieved from the open feed port on top the channel could be designed as a gravity feed system where the product is retrieved at the bottom. As indicated by the dashed lines, sections 130 of the stop members 114 can be removed such that a bottom-most product could be retrieved through the frontal opening and the force of gravity would cause the next product in line to be positioned at the frontal opening. In addition, one embodiment of the shelving design for the present invention could be designed such that the vertical display channels are much taller such that an individual standing on the retail floor could not reach through the feed port 108. The additional height of the shelving and the display channels could be hidden behind a facial wall as indicated by dashed lines 132. The upper end of the shelving can be hidden by a wall. The taller shelving could satisfy any inventory space required. However, the wall covering the upper shelving can be decorated to provide a more retail store atmosphere.

The various product display bin channels and integral stackable product examples shown above illustrate a novel product display apparatus. A user of the present invention may choose any of the above embodiments, or an equivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In this regard, it is recognized that various forms of the subject display bin and product could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the sprit and scope of the present invention.

Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims. 

1. A product storage display bin and integral product comprising: a vertically oriented back wall; a plurality of substantially parallel dividers projecting outward from and orthogonally to the back wall thereby defining vertically oriented product display bin channels each open at a top end for receiving through a top feed port and each closed on a bottom end by a floor board laterally extending across the bottom ends of each of the product display bin channels and where each said product display bin channel has a frontal vertically elongated opening for displaying products and each frontal opening having a frontal opening stop member; and a product display package having a transparent top dome portion defining an interior volume and having a bottom opening and a bottom plate portion adapted to slidably engage the top dome portion such that it covers the bottom opening and defines dimension of a bottom footprint and where said dimensions of the bottom footprint is substantially the same as dimensions of the top feed port adapted for slidably top feeding said product display package down said product display bin channels.
 2. The product display bin as recited in claim 1, where said product display bin channels have a rectangular annular cross section.
 3. The product display bin as recited in claim 2, where said frontal opening stop member is a vertically elongated frontal lip orthogonally projecting from a frontal edged of each divider laterally across an adjacent frontal opening adapted for preventing the product display package from falling forward. 